The Gym That Allows You to Create Your Own Power

December 24, 2018

Are you an environmentally-friendly gym rat? Have you ever felt as though the energy you expend at the gym was a bit wasted? Well, emerging technology that lets you create power through your workout might be something that interests you.

Think about it: running on the treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike, and other machines take a lot of energy on your part. Why not harness that energy and turn it into fuel?

A couple of gyms across the country and the world are doing just that. The technology is nothing new – machines that allow you to create energy out of your sweat have been around for some time. They’re gaining popularity, though, and are becoming more accessible to the general public.

Burning Calories Over Burning Fuel

The idea of using the energy we create during a workout to power a gym isn’t anything spectacularly new. It’s difficult to tell who was the first to do it. We found Gyms in England, China, America, and our own country that claim to be on the cutting edge of such technology.

It doesn’t matter who was the first; what matters is that the trend is picking up steam.

What’s interesting, though, is that many of these gym creators weren’t even considering the environmental impact of their equipment before making the change – they just wanted to save some money on energy cost.

Keeping machines like treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes running throughout the day can be quite expensive – especially when you have a number of them.

These machines use a considerable amount of energy. What if they created energy instead of using it? That’s what a lot of gym owners thought about when developing these new machines, and gym-goers ate it up.

The First Self-Powering Australian Gym

The first gym in Australia to harness the power of hard work is called Surry Hills Boxing. The owner and operator, Danny Morgan, saw an opportunity to harness the energy of those in his gym and use it for fuel.

He started by adding five eco-friendly bikes to the gym and realised how much of a savings opportunity he had. He soon found that through a few energy efficient tweaks to gym facilities, the entire gym would have power when all five bikes were going at once.

Does This Truly Save Money?

As Danny Morgan addressed in his blog post, adding energy efficient appliances and machines that generate energy can be expensive.

Despite this fact, the rising price of fossil fuels will increase the viability of these machines. Paying more for new equipment in the short-term will soon become far more favourable than continuing to pay high prices for energy over time.

Morgan also notes that there’s another massive value in creating your own energy supply: marketing. More and more Australians are becoming environmentally conscious as the ramifications of climate change become clear.

Sure, you might be spending more money on equipment right now, but you can think of it as a marketing investment if you like. When given a choice between a regular gym and an environmentally friendly gym, a lot of people are going to choose the latter – all else being equal.

There are only a handful of gyms in the world that use these kinds of machines. The price of the equipment is only going down as well, as the technology becomes more readily available. Gyms would be wise to jump on the bandwagon soon before their competition decides they want to create power with their equipment as well.

Creating New Opportunities

There are a couple of obvious machines that will help a gym generate energy: ellipticals, treadmills, stationary bikes, rowing machines, etc. Multiple companies are working on these machines, and some are even making them available for home use.

Of course, the machines are quite expensive. Most people won’t have the means to bring the “sweat to energy” idea to their home just yet, but it’s clearly a viable option for the future of the fitness industry.

The Australian company Eco Renewable Energy is one of the pioneers in fitness equipment that allows you to create your own power. They have a line of traditional equipment but are also thinking of new ways to harness the power of movement and turn it into usable fuel.

WeWatt Kiosks

One of the innovations Eco Renewable Energy has created is called WeWatt and is available in multiple forms. In many ways, this technology is just a new take on creating fuel through stationary bikes. Still, it brings a new stylistic and practical way to get the most out of this energy generation.

WeWatt Kiosks and hubs look like modern tables but have one major difference: pedals. You can use one in your store, office, cafe, or other building to encourage those who visit or work to stay active while they create power.

They can use this power to charge their phone, laptop, or another device. The next person who needs a charge can use any excess energy they create for their own charging needs.

Energy Floors

Energy floors are another interesting innovation from Eco Renewable Energy. Places like clubs and bars can use them to create energy from their dancing clientele. Some of the more advanced models are even interactive, allowing for an upgrade to the dance floor you currently have – even before you consider the renewable energy element.

Going Forward

While harnessing the power of a workout isn’t commonplace just yet, the fitness industry is trending in the right direction.

It’s clear that the benefits in both energy savings and marketing can greatly improve a gym’s bottom line, so keep an eye out for more of these renewable energy gyms as the trend spreads throughout Australia.